Philadelphia hosted the first organized Independence Day celebration in 1777.
The celebration took place one year after the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia was then the meeting place of Congress and a major center of revolutionary political life.
The festivities included an official dinner for Congress, toasts, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships in the harbor were decorated with red, white, and blue bunting. These features helped establish traditions later associated with July 4.
This event should not be confused with the first public reading of the Declaration or with the first anniversary observance in every American community. Other places held their own commemorations, including a notable 13-gun salute in Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1777. America250 marks the 250th anniversary of the independence tradition that began during the Revolutionary era.